Opera For All

La Boheme 2011 - Find out how this year's performance went

Click here to see a review and photographs from La Boheme at Newbury Racecourse on Saturday June 11.

Or watch a video from last year's performance of The Magic Flute. 

Opera for All is Greenham Common Trust’s flagship annual event where the whole family can enjoy professional outdoor opera at a fraction of Covent Garden Prices. The Trust has been organising the popular subsidised event at Newbury Racecourse since 2005 (to coincide with the racecourse’s centenary celebrations) and last year we had our highest ever audience of 1,500 people. The opera is part of the Trust’s charitable initiative to make all genres of music and the arts accessible to the local community in West Berkshire and North Hampshire.

The nationally recognised touring opera company Opera Brava brings the best and most loved operas to audiences at an open air performance at the height of summer, when the crowds can enjoy a picnic with their music. On Saturday June 11, 2011 local residents will once again be invited to bring their hampers and blankets and soak up the wonderful atmosphere of Puccini’s finest score La Boheme.

In 2010 the Trust decided to expand its opera into a local weekend of culture by creating a partnership with West Berkshire Minority Ethnic Forum and supported them in their Culture Fest – an event celebrating the rich diversity of culture in our local communities. We also asked Opera Brava to extend its opera events to include a junior opera which is practised and performed by The Willows Primary School children in Greenham culminating in open air performance on the Friday before the main event at Newbury Racecourse. Last year they performed The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe and this year it will be Prince Caspian. (Click Junior Opera for more details).

The Trust's chief executive Stuart Tagg says: "Opera for All is a fantastic opportunity for the whole community to experience a professional, high quality opera at an affordable price. So if you've never been to an opera before why not come down, bring a picnic and enjoy a wonderful evening out. What could be better than sipping a glass of wine, watching the sun set and listening to some of the finest opera in the country?”

Visit the Opera Brava website

Watch last year's opera - The Magic Flute - Preview
Watch last year's opera - The Magic Flute - Edited Highlights